Tag Archives: coach

(Editor’s Note: What follows is an excerpt from an article that appeared in the May issue of Concussion Litigation Reporter. To see the full story, please subscribe at https://concussionpolicyandthelaw.com/subscribe/)

Brian Baucham, a former player on the University of Southern California football team, has reached a settlement with the school and his former head coach, Lane Kiffin, after claiming that he was forced to play too soon after a concussion, leading to permanent disabilities.

In the lawsuit, which was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in September 2014, the plaintiff alleged that in September 2012 he suffered a concussion in a game. The next morning, he alleged, USC’s health clinic diagnosed him …

“Football Canada and its member associations are committed to the safety of its athletes,” said Football Canada president, Richard MacLean. “As visible through the high number of coaches which have become Safe Contact trained this past year, the response amongst Canadian coaches, teams and associations has been incredible.”

“We look forward to building upon this success by working with the provincial football associations and community to increase the number of Safe Contact trained coaches across Canada.”

The number of Safe Contact trained coaches will continue to accelerate as the amateur football community gears up to meet a series of deadlines requiring all coaches, under the Football Canada umbrella, to become Safe Contact trained by March 31, 2017. The program, announced in early 2015, require that all head coaches, as well as half of their assistant and position coaches become Safe Contact trained by the end of March, 2016.

An integral part of Football Canada’s National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP), Safe Contact teaches safe tackling techniques that emphasizes making contact with the chest and front shoulder and not the head.

Safe Contact also emphasizes a blocking technique that stresses making primary contact with the hands, along with safety education and awareness.

Starting in 2014, Football Canada teamed up with the CFL to expand and improve the Safe Contact program as part of a shared commitment to player health and safety.

A blitz of Safe Contact events are scheduled across Canada to help coaches become trained in safe tackling blocking techniques, along with safety education and awareness.

Safe Contact training events planned across Canada

Safe Contact training events are available across the country, leading up to the start of the season. Coaches are asked to visit www.SafeContact.ca, coach.ca’s ‘The Locker’ or contact their respective provincial football association for more information. Leagues and associations are urged to contact their provincial association, if they’d like to discuss running additional training in their area.

A coach can become Safe Contact trained by following three easy steps:

2. Register for a Safe Contact clinic through his or her provincial amateur football association or by visiting SafeContact.ca.

3. Attend a Safe Contact clinic, which typically spans eight hours taught over one or two days, usually on a weekend.

After the March 21, 2017 deadline, any new coach has a year from the time he or she first steps on the field as a coach to complete Safe Contact training.

Next steps for Safe Contact coaches

Safe Contact trained coaches are encouraged to continue their development through the national coaching certification program. For more information, please visit: http://footballcanada.com/coach-training/.

A lawsuit filed by a 13-year-old California high school student, who suffered a debilitating concussion in a freshman football game, alleges among other things that the school district in which he was a student provided medical staff for the varsity and junior varsity games, but not the freshman games.

Plaintiff Rashaun Council, of Monte Vista High School, suffered the injury in a game against Mount Miguel High School on Oct. 17, 2013. After the game, Council began vomiting, and then collapsed. Reportedly, he suffered a concussion and a subdural hematoma, and spent the next several months at Rady Children’s Hospital.

Rashaun told a local television station in San Diego, 10News, that he remembers nothing from that day and that he still has short-term memory issues.

He has retained attorney Brian Gonzalez, who told the television station that his client’s coaches …